Many modern electronic devices rely on a stable source of power. In many cases, a power source, such as a battery, does not provide an appropriate voltage or current. Accordingly, it is useful to provide circuitry that will condition that power so that it is suitable for use by the device. A device that provides such power is often referred to as a “power converter.”
A known power converter includes a regulator in series with a charge pump. An example of such a regulator operates by switching an inductor between two states according to some switch duty cycle. The inductor in this regulator performs two functions. One is to control the output voltage of the converter. The other is to promote adiabatic charge transfer among the capacitors within the charge pump.
Known power converters operating according to the above principles are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,860,396, 8,743,553, 8,503,203, 8,693,224, 8,339,184, 8,619,445, 8,723,491, 8,817,501, 9,497,854, 9,143,037, 8,724,353, 9,502,968, 9,203,299, 9,041,459 and U.S. Publication No. 2013-0229841, U.S. Publication No. 2013-0094157, U.S. Publication No. 2013-0154600, U.S. Publication No. 2015-0311786, U.S. Publication No. 2014-0327479, U.S. Publication No. 2016-0028302, U.S. Publication No. 2014-0266132, U.S. Publication No. 2015-0077175, U.S. Publication No. 2015-0077176, U.S. Publication No. 2016-0197552 and International Publication No. 2014/062279, International Publication No. 2015/138378, 2015/138547, International Publication No. 2016/149063 the contents of which are all herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.